DCA1000 mmWave Studio User Guide

Table of Contents

Overview

This guide is intended for users with a TI mmWave sensor evaluation module (EVM) and DCA1000EVM. The guide will walk through setting up the DCA1000 capture card as well as the mmWave Studio tool in order to configure the device’s mmWave SDK Front End software to allow for raw data collection.

This guide supports several different EVMs, so be sure to follow the steps that apply to your device.

Software Requirements

Requirement Description Link
mmWave Studio Software tool to configure mmWave characteristics, make sure you download the 1st generation installer mmWave Studio Download

User Guide
mmWave Studio for xWRL6432BOOST This specific version is REQUIRED for xWRL6432BOOST Software tool to configure low power mmWave sensor to collect raw data. MMWAVE STUDIO 3G
MATLAB Runtime Engine v8.5.1 This specific version is REQUIRED, Make sure to install this version even if you have a newer one already installed. MATLAB Download
Code Composer Studio v7.1+ OR
XDS Emulation Software Package v6.0.579.0+		 Required Software, only need one of the software listed for this user guide Code Composer Studio Download

XDS Package Download

Hardware Requirements

Requirement Description
xWR Sensor EVMs mmWave EVM, needs a Power Supply 5V, 3A with 2.1-mm barrel jack (center positive), micro USB cable (this cable come with kit)
DCA1000 EVM Raw data capture card, needs a Power Supply 5V, 3A with 2.1-mm barrel jack (center positive), micro USB cable, RJ45 Ethernet cable, 60pin Samtec cable (this cable comes with kit)
Barrel Jack Power Supply Power Supply 5V, 3A with 2.1-mm barrel jack (center positive)
Micro USB Cable Two cables are required if using a setup that includes an ICBOOST
Ethernet Cable One end will be plugged into the DCA1000 and the other to your computer for high speed data transfer

EVM Hardware Compatibility

Certain versions of xWR mmWave Sensors require an ICBOOST for raw data capture. Below is a table of all EVM revisions that do or do not need an ICBOOST.

mmWave EVM DCA1000 Only DCA1000 + ICBOOST
xWR6843ISK Rev A - C

✕

✔
xWR6843ISK Rev D

✔

✔
xWR6843ISK-ODS Rev A

✕

✔
xWR6843ISK-ODS Rev B

✔

✔
xWR6843AOP Rev A - F

✕

✔
xWR6843AOP Rev G

✔

✔
xWR1xxxBOOST

✔

✕
xWRL6432BOOST

✔

✕

Hardware Setup: ISK and ISK-ODS Evaluation Modules

This section applies to the following boards:

ISK and ISK-ODS Standalone Mode

This section describes setting up the hardware for an ISK style EVM WITHOUT an MMWAVEICBOOST EVM.

⚠️ WARNING - COMPATIBILITY CHECK
Using the EVM Hardware Combinations and Compatibility table above, verify your revision of EVM can collect raw data from the DCA1000 WITHOUT requiring a ICBOOST board.

Additional Hardware Requirements for Standalone ISK Style

Switch and Wiring Setup with Antenna Module and DCA1000

To use the RevD EVM directly with DCA1000, the switches (in the yellow circle) need to be set as shown below. On the RevD board, power is supplied via USB connector. (For 3TX and other high power use case that exceeding the limit of the USB power input, TP12 & TP13 can be used to power the antenna board)


Flip the large DCA1000 switch if none of the LEDs on it light up.

ISK and ISK-ODS With mmWaveICBoost Attached

This section describes setting up the hardware for an ISK style EVM attached to an MMWAVEICBOOST EVM. More information can be found in the ICBOOST users guide at: https://www.ti.com/lit/ug/swru546c/swru546c.pdf

Additional Hardware Requirements for ISK + Carrier

ISK + Carrier and DCA1000 Setup

Configure mmWaveIcBoost

If the mmWaveICBoost ICBOOST has not been used previously, then change the switches on the boards to the following states. On newer EVM’s (Only ISK Rev C or later and ISK-ODS Rev B or later have switches on the EVM itself) that have not been previously used in conjunction with the carrier board, set the switches according to the following image

Wiring Setup with ISK and DCA1000

Flip the large DCA1000 switch if none of the LEDs on it light up.

Hardware Setup: AOP EVM’s

This section applies to the following boards:

AOP Standalone Mode

This section applies to setting an AOP EVM for Raw Data Collection via DCA1000 when used WITHOUT an mmWaveICBoost ICBOOST.

Additional Hardware Requirements for Standalone AOP

Switch and Wiring Setup with AOP RevG and DCA1000

This step only applies when using the xWR6843AOP RevG antenna module without an MMWAVEICBOOST, any other revision must have a MMWAVEICBOOST. To use xWR6843AOP RevG EVM directly with DCA1000, the switches (highlighted with blue squares) need to be set as shown. Note that on xWR6843AOP RevG board, power is supplied via USB connector. Flip the large DCA1000 switch if none of the LEDs on it light up.

AOP With mmWaveICBoost Attached

This section describes setting up the hardware for an AOP EVM when attached to an mmWaveICBoost ICBOOST. Please note the switch orientation as well as the amount of connected cables

Hardware Requirements for AOP + Carrier

Configure AOP Switches

Configure mmWaveIcBoost Switches

Wiring Setup

Flip the large DCA1000 switch if none of the LEDs on it light up.

Hardware Setup: xWR1xxxBOOST EVM’s

This section applies to the following EVMs:

This section will cover how to set up an xWR1xxxBOOST EVM for Raw Data Collection via DCA1000. Unlike the other devices in this guide, the debugging hardware is built into these EVMs, and as a result, an MMWAVEICBOOST is not necessary.

Switch and Wiring Setup with xWR1xxxBOOST and DCA1000

Make sure your device’s SOP mode is in “Development” mode, which is where SOP0 and SOP1 are ON and SOP2 is OFF with regards to the mmWave sensor. Also check the switches on the DCA1000 itself and make sure it matches the ones seen below.


Connect one USB cord directly from the USB port of your computer to the xWR1xxxBOOST. Connect the second USB cord from the USB port of your computer to the RADAR_FTDI of the DCA1000. Unlike other EVM setups in this guide, the barrel jack connection must be connected directly to the mmWave sensor EVM. If you are running into issues involving errors or performance, a second barrel jack connection can be connected to the DCA1000 directly to properly reach that 5V 3A power recommendation.


Lastly, make sure the switch shown here is set to SPI mode. If the switch is set to CAN mode then mmWaveStudio will be unable to connect to the DCA1000

Hardware Setup: xWRL6432BOOST Low Power Evaluation Modules

This section applies to the following boards:

This section will cover how to set up an xWRL6432EVM for Raw Data Collection via DCA1000. For the xWRL6432, the debugging hardware is built directly into the EVM, and as a result, an MMWAVEICBOOST is not necessary.

Switch and Wiring Setup with xWR1xxxBOOST and DCA1000

Software Setup: Preparing mmWave Studio to read mmWave EVM

Perform the following setup steps:

Confirming Hardware Detecting

If you do not have Code Composer Studio v7.1 or higher installed:

  1. Install the XDS Emulation Software Package from the link at the top of this page.
  2. Connect the DCA1000 and the EVM to your PC through USB cables and power.
  3. In the Windows Device Manager, the COM ports should appear as this when the drivers are installed:

⚠️ WARNING - DRIVERS NOT INSTALLED CHECK
The FTDI device ports of the DCA1000 board will appear with a yellow label when the driver is not installed:

  1. Download the mmWave Studio installer from the link specified at the top. The data sheet version of the user guide is also linked with more detailed instructions on how to install if needed.
  2. After the installation is complete, the GUI executable and associated files will reside in the following directory: C:\ti\mmwave_studio_ver\mmWaveStudio
  3. Connect the Ethernet cable between the DCA1000 and the PC.
  4. In the PC local area network properties select TCP/IPv4.
  5. Set static IP address of 192.168.33.30.
  6. Subnet mask as 255.255.255.0

Running mmWave Studio for xWRL6432BOOST ONLY

By this point, all hardware and software setup must be completed successfully. If you are using any device other than a xWRL6432BOOST module, please skip to the next section

1. Getting Started

Modify the firmware directory to match the firmware directory.

2. Running the Startup Script

  1. Double click the mmWaveStudio.exe under the folder C:\ti\mmwave_studio_04_00_03_02\mmWaveStudio\RunTime to start the mmWave studio.
  2. Browse and find the common_device_setup.lua script on your PC folder and run it. This script covers the hardware connection and firmware loading part.
  3. Before running the script, please make sure your Ethernet cable is properly connected to the DCA1000 board.

After the startup script runs successfully, mmWave studio window looks like below. If any status is listed as Disconnected or you have an error in the Output tab, please recheck that you have all software components downloaded and hardware components configured exactly as shown in the xWRL6432BOOST section

3. Preparing for Capture

  1. Browse and find the LUA example for chirp configuration chirp_60G_6m.lua in the package under .\LUA_examples. By the end of this script, a binary data file is generated C:\ti\mmwave_studio_04_00_03_02\mmWaveStudio\PostProc\adc_data1_Raw_0.bin. The built-in post-processing function is called at the end to check the results.
  2. After this initial LUA script, users can use the mmWave GUI, go to SensorConfig Tab, manually modify the binary data file name, trigger the data capture and click on the postProc button to check the results. As shown in the figure below, users should follow step 1 ~ step 4 in sequence.

Since this built-in post-processing script is not available for access, we provided a MATLAB parsing script .\matlabParsingScript\dataPostProc_60low.m in the package to demonstrate how to parse the binary data.

4. (Optional) Changing the Sensor’s Parameters

  1. Users can also modify the chirp configuration inside the SensorConfig tab. Please refer to Interface Control Document (ICD) found withing the mmWave DFP package to understand these parameters. ICD can be found under the unzipped firmware directory C:\ti\mmwave_dfp_3_0_8_5_DFP_APL_RC\docs.
  2. After chirp configuration, users will need to manually modify the parameter inside MATLAB parsing script dataPostProc_60low.m to match the chirp parameters.

Running mmWave Studio

By this point, all hardware and software setup must be completed successfully. If you are using a xWRL6432BOOST module, please scroll up to the previous section

1. Before Starting

  1. Ensure your hardware is properly connected and everything is powered on.
  2. To start the GUI, click on the Desktop shortcut for mmWave Studio or open the file called “mmWaveStudio.exe”, located within C:\ti\mmwave_studio_\mmWaveStudio\RunTime folder.

✅ NOTE - Connecting Hardware
For your first time running mmWave Studio, your hardware must already be connected or the program will not open correctly.

The Connection window should show up with FTDI Connectivity highlighted in green. If in red, install the FTDI drivers (see section FTDI and XDS driver installation within Software Setup).

2. Connecting to the Sensor

  1. “Under Reset Control” click ‘Set(1)’
  2. “RS232 Operations” Select the COM port listed in device manager as Application/User port number, Baud rate 115200. Click ‘Connect’. The RS232 Connectivity should turn to ‘Disconnect’. The Device status should show based on the radar device used.

✅ NOTE - ONLY AOP
The portion below is only applicable to an AOP device.
When using an AOP device, the device name is not automatically detected after hitting reset and disconnect under RS232 connection. The user has to click the “operation frequency” and “device variant” radio buttons manually in the specific order shown below. Any deviance from the suggested order can cause unwanted errors

3. Loading Firmware

  1. “Files” load the appropriate BSS (radarss.bin) , then MSS firmware (Masterss.bin) from the “~\mmwave_studio_\rf_eval_firmware” folder. The binary is based on the device variant being used (1243/1443/1642/6843)
  2. The silicon PG version (ES1.0, ES2.0, ES3.0) being supported by the firmware is listed in the radar studio release notes. The firmware for an older PG version can be found in the older version of the radar studio.
  3. “SPI Operations” Click ‘SPI Connect(5)’ then ‘RF Power-up(6)’
  4. Once the firmware is loaded, the firmware and patch versions are displayed.

4. Sensor Configuration

StaticConfig tab:

  1. Select the desired TX and RX channels that you would want to use. In ADC Config, select desired ADC configuration and click SET
  2. If board is provided 1V RF supply Enable the RF LDO Bypass, if its 1.3V leave it unchecked. Click the Advanced Configuration Set button.
  3. LP mode select ‘Regular ADC’ mode
  4. Click the RF Init Done button.

DataConfig tab:

  1. Select the data path config (ADC_ONLY) and click Set button.
  2. Select the clock rate and click set.
  3. Select the LVDS lanes and click set.

SensorConfig tab:

  1. Select the required Profile configuration. These define the FMCW chirp profile.
  2. Select the chirp configuration.
  3. Select the frame configuration.
  4. Select the Dump file path name.
  5. For more details on selecting the values for profile , chirp and frame configuration refer to the app note Programming Chirp Parameters in TI Radar Devices

5. Connecting to DCA1000

  1. Select ‘DCA1000’ and click on ‘SetUp DCA1000’
  2. Click on “Connect, Reset and configure”. This would establish the Ethernet connection and display the FPGA versions. Verify that the FPGA version is correct.
  3. Note that in case the connection fails make sure the static IP is set correctly, Ethernet cable is plugged in correctly, WIFI is disabled and the ports 4096 and 4098 are accessible in the PC used, i.e. there is no firewall blocking the ports.

6. Starting Data Capture

  1. Click on DCA1000 ARM and then Trigger Frame. At this point the radar starts sending out ADC data and DCA1000 starts capturing it.
  2. Once the capture is complete , click on ‘Post Proc’.
  3. At this point the .bin file specified in the “Dump File” dialog box is created and the captured data is processed.
  4. The post processing utility displays the FFT, time domain and other analyses plots. Please refer to the mmWave studio user guide for details. (The source code of this post processing utility is not available. But a data parsing script is provided with the radar studio release package located at: C:\ti\mmwave_studio_xx_xx_xx_xx\mmWaveStudio\MatlabExamples\singlechip_raw_data_reader_example)

Below are some of the Post Proc plots available:

7. Interpreting Data

Data File Structure:

Configuration : n LVDS Lanes, complex data, n channels, chirping/continuous streaming mode

Notation :

✅ NOTE - Packet Drops
Since the data is captured using a UDP protocol over Ethernet interface, there could be occasional packets drops. The data from the dropped packets is filled with zeros in the file and can be ignored for analyses.

Data File Example:

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